2 The specter of Famine during World War II
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Matthew Schultz
Abstract
Emphasizes a spectral blending of Famine and World War II imagery in Sebastian Barry’s novel The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty (1998), which argues against Irish neutrality. I define and measure the effect of spectrality in Barry’s fiction by focusing on the ghostly (tropes, modes, themes, and forms that bring multiple histories and fictions into dialogue with one another) to trace the way in which Barry crafts a Famine subtext that functions as a critique of Ireland’s non-engagement. Eneas Mcnulty employs imagery that conjures the history of the Famine into the historical space of World War II, and can therefore be read as invoking that nineteenth-century Irish trauma as rationale not for neutrality, but engagement.
Abstract
Emphasizes a spectral blending of Famine and World War II imagery in Sebastian Barry’s novel The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty (1998), which argues against Irish neutrality. I define and measure the effect of spectrality in Barry’s fiction by focusing on the ghostly (tropes, modes, themes, and forms that bring multiple histories and fictions into dialogue with one another) to trace the way in which Barry crafts a Famine subtext that functions as a critique of Ireland’s non-engagement. Eneas Mcnulty employs imagery that conjures the history of the Famine into the historical space of World War II, and can therefore be read as invoking that nineteenth-century Irish trauma as rationale not for neutrality, but engagement.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Dedication vi
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Famine
- 1 The persistence of Famine in postcolonial Ireland 23
- 2 The specter of Famine during World War II 67
-
Part II Revolution
- 3 Ancient warriors, modernsexualities 97
- 4 Gothic inheritance and the Troubles in contemporary Irish fiction 129
- Conclusion 164
- Bibliography 183
- Index 200
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Dedication vi
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Famine
- 1 The persistence of Famine in postcolonial Ireland 23
- 2 The specter of Famine during World War II 67
-
Part II Revolution
- 3 Ancient warriors, modernsexualities 97
- 4 Gothic inheritance and the Troubles in contemporary Irish fiction 129
- Conclusion 164
- Bibliography 183
- Index 200
